Europe introduced its first bitcoin ETF less than a week after the SEC delayed its decision on certification. Jacobi Asset Management officially launched Europe’s first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Euronext Amsterdam, more than a year after its first planned launch.
Related reading : First Bitcoin ETF Ready to Go Live in Europe
Jacobi’s ETF Structure
The ETF, which trades under the ticker BCOIN, is governed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), with Fidelity Digital Assets providing custodial services, Flow Traders acting as market makers, and Jane Street and DRW acting as Authorized Participants. Wilshire Indexes provides the fund’s benchmark, the FT Wilshire bitcoin Blended Price Index.
The FT Wilshire indexes, created in collaboration with CryptoCompare, a prominent global digital asset market data source, combine CryptoCompare’s market standard exchange ratings and Wilshire’s methodology to aggregate the values of digital assets from seven of the most highly rated exchanges.
A minimum A grade and an overall score of at least 70 in the preceding 12 months indicate that they have strong Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies, as well as legal and regulatory compliance and due diligence processes.
The indexes will enable institutional investors to get more assured access to an asset class that has previously been more appealing to retail investors with higher risk tolerances. Wilshire’s patented methodology will be applied to individual digital assets as well as indexes covering more than 85% of the market capitalization on qualified exchanges. This thorough and inventive technique increases data transparency while also establishing a set of trustworthy benchmarks.
“It is exciting to see Europe moving ahead of the United States in opening up bitcoin investing for institutional investors who want safe, secure access to the benefits of digital assets using familiar and regulated structures like our ETF,” said Martin Bednall, CEO of Jacobi Asset Management.
“Unlike other debt-based products on the European market, our fund directly owns the underlying asset. Jacobi is happy to have Tier 1 partners at the forefront of this digital asset market evolution, as well as to be pioneering an innovative, environmentally sound option for European investors.”
Related reading : SEC Delays Bitcoin ETF Filings
The introduction of the Jacobi FT Wilshire bitcoin ETF is an important milestone for the digital asset market and a transformative time for the global financial industry, according to Mark Makepeace, CEO of Wilshire Indexes:
“We are delighted about our collaboration with Jacobi, and as a pioneer in the development of institutional grade digital asset benchmarks, we are dedicated to accelerating the evolution of the whole digital asset ecosystem.”
While Europe introduces its first bitcoin ETF, the U.S. continues to postpone the inevitable listing of one. Last week, the SEC delayed its judgment on whether to approve or deny Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest spot bitcoin ETF proposal, leaving many investors perplexed as to when the United States might approve its first spot bitcoin ETF.
